The victory embrace at Elephant Pass

Shanika SRIYANANDA reporting from Elephant Pass

Few minutes were left to link the two sides ending a decade long regime of terror that kept the South and North shut to each other. Marking yet another historic capture by the military, hundreds of brave soldiers with their Commanders were waiting at the narrow strip heading towards Jaffna Peninsular to meet their colleagues marching from Jaffna.

It was a moment that heralds not only the liberation of the Elephant Pass, but a chain of victories that captured Paranthan, Kilinochchi, Muhamalai, Kilali, Soranpattu and Murisamudai.

With the sun becoming brighter and brighter that made the historical 'marriage' of the troops more colourful, the brave soldiers led by two Security Forces Commanders - Major General Jagath Jayasuriya, the Wanni Chief and Major General Mendaka Samarasinghe, the Jaffna Chief met each other at 11.03 a.m. on that eventful day last January 10 near the old Dutch Military camp. It was the opening of the A-9 after 23 years.

The National Flag fluttered in the clear blue skies of the Elephant Pass, which had fallen to the hands of the military after 10 years of LTTE control. Elephant Pass which is 'Alimankada' to Sinhalese and 'Aanai Iravu' to Tamils, is now free of Tiger domination, where the so-called 'sole representatives of Tamils' grabbed hard earned money of innocent Tamils, who crossed the A-9 calling it taxes. The Jaffna-Kandy Road, the A-9 highway, and the railway line to Jaffna run through Elephant Pass, which is the gateway to Jaffna.

Strikingly, the moment was great for the brave military men. Happiness and pride was written on every face when they embraced each other.

While the two SF Commanders embraced each other in this solemn moment. The Divisional Commanders - Brigadier Shavendra Silva, who led his 58 Division to capture Paranthan and South of the Elephant Pass and the two Divisional Commanders, Brigadier Kamal Gunaratne of the 53 Division and Brigadier Prasanna Silva of the 55 Division, who chased the LTTE in Muhamalai and Kilali welcomed each other warmly in this historic celebration.

This twin victory - liberating the Elephant Pass and opening of the A-9 - did not come on a platter. It was not a cake walk either. It was the blood and sweat of each soldier who walked inch by inch braving the sun and rain, bullets and mortars to free the country from the LTTE, that had brought victory.

Bitter memories

Each battle has its scars and bitter memories to display the fall and rise of the war. The A-9 has no exception. The remnants of the old Dutch military camp which was overrun by the LTTE in 1999, the sign board of the Elephant Pass, and the old mini tankers the sides of the remnants of the military camp were the symbols of the war that demonstrate the horror under the LTTE control. The gravity of the war could be seen in the cement name board, in which 'Elephant Pass' is in three languages. The bullet holes pierce through the thick cement block near the mini-tanker has erased some of the letters - Sinhala, Tamil and English - equally showing how the decade long bloody war had destroyed the social fabric of the three communities.

Other than the Elephant Pass debacle and decade long closure of A-9, what is unforgettable and a lasting one in the memory of everyone's mind is the bravery of the famous Hasalaka Gamini, who jumped into a bulldozer driven by two suicide LTTE cadres who came to destroy the Southern defence lines of the Elephant Pass (EPS) base in July 1991.

While it remains a legend, the brave soldiers of our times marked yet another milesstone linking the South and North by capturing the gateway to the North - A-9 along the EPS January 9.

The Elephant Pass, a stretch of shallow waters that separates the Jaffna Peninsula, and frequented by the elephants in ancient times, has become the epicentre of the war. The small fortress built by the Dutch in 1776 was converted to a tourist rest house, but it was expanded to a permanent garrison as the smuggling and illegal transportation of people and timber increased.

Military base

With the escalation of the war, the 'mini garrison' at Elephant Pass, the strategically important centre, was expanded into a fully equipped military base with satellite facilities.

The LTTE took full control of the Elephant Pass in 2000 in the worst ever debacles killing over 1,600 soldiers.

However, the fight to liberate Elephant Pass was imminent with the dedication of the foot soldiers to airmen to sailors. The liberation of Elephant Pass is not merely a military victory, but a victory that brings many benefits to the people of Jaffna and Wanni. And significantly it was not a cake walk for the soldiers. They moved inch by inch clearing the Tiger dominated land through heavily mined fields and trappings.

As the Army Chief Lt. General Sarath Fonseka says the military has paid a heavy price to bring the Tigers to their knees.

Soon after the liberation of Paranthan and Kilinochchi, Lt. General Fonseka instructed to speed up the battle to liberate Elephant Pass.

The offensives to capture Elephant Pass was speedily initiated by the Divisions - 58, 55 and 53. The 53 and 55 Divisions, which advanced from Muhamalai and Kilali fronts, taking full control of the A-9 Road as they captured Pallai town and took control of a 20 kilometre stretch to Elephant Pass.

The 58 Division took control of the Southern part of the Elephant Pass gaining the full control of the Thamilmadam while the LTTE which boasted about holding the ground, ran away to Mullathivu with their belongings. Leaving no room for the running Tigers to turn their guns back on the advancing soldiers, the Air Force fighter jets and MiG 24 helicopters took targets of LTTE basses. It was not easy for the soldiers to advance as the surroundings of the Elephant Pass were heavily mined. But proving that nothing could hinder the commitment of the soldiers, they continued their forward march to victory while Col. Nalinda Kumarasinghe, who took part in many military operations against the LTTE, the Commanding Officer of the 5th Gamunu Watch of the 53 Division was breathing his last with his signal operator in a cluster bomb explosion at Pula Pallai few hours before the victorious re-capture of Elephant Pass.

While the troops Vijayaba Infantry Regiment, and the 2 Commando Regiment turning a new leaf, made the historical move to re-capture Elephant Pass, it was 11 in the morning on January 9 when Major Shamid of the 2 Commando Regiment of the 58 Division and Captain Nissanka of the Vijayaba Infantry Regiment linked at the Elephant Pass heralding the message that the military had taken full control of the gateway to Jaffna and the A-9 Road.

The mechanised troops of the Army had played a vital role to pushing the Tigers and destroying their defences.The worthy factor of this Monday to Friday, five-day military operation to liberate Elephant Pass is the minimal lose to the Army. According to President Mahinda Rajapaksa, who declared victory, over 359 soldiers were killed and 349 were missing in action while 2500 soldiers were injured in the debacle in 2000.

But the Army lost less than 20 lives - five soldiers attached to the 55 Division and 12 soldiers of the 53 Division with 150 injured in the re-capturing of Elephant Pass in 2009.

The flag hoisting ceremony to mark the event in the blood soaked soil became more colourful when the Divisional and Regimental flags went up fluttering in the breeze rhythmically symbolising freedom.

The fragrance of sweet meat including 'kiri bath' brought back nostalgic memories of a terror free era when all the communities lived together.

This land route which divided the Sinhalese from the Tamils for decades is no more. Like soldiers of the Northern battle front embraced their counterparts in the South, people of Jaffna and the South embracing each other not in years, but on a day very soon is happily predictable.